{"id":709,"date":"2015-04-07T14:56:06","date_gmt":"2015-04-07T14:56:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=709"},"modified":"2015-10-13T18:59:28","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T18:59:28","slug":"rights-and-rites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2015\/04\/07\/rights-and-rites\/","title":{"rendered":"Rights and Rites: Religion at Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Indiana\u2019s recently passed Religious Freedom Restoration Act (not to be confused<\/a> with the 1993 Federal RFRA), faced widespread public controversy and brought a number of high profile boycotts against the state. The law allows private businesses to use the free exercise of religion as a defense in court should they face a lawsuit for discrimination, raising concern about whether businesses are allowed to discriminate against clients on religious grounds. Similar laws are under debate in other states, while in Madison, Wisconsin, officials have signed the first legislation that includes the \u201cnon-religious\u201d<\/a> as a legally protected category. The laws illustrate the importance of religion in shaping social and political issues in American lives.<\/p>\n

While religion often works as an inclusive, community-building institution, it also has the potential to reinforce existing social boundaries and inequalities. Cultural and historical contexts shape the ways that religious beliefs are interpreted, and in the American context, religious beliefs are often used to exclude religious and sexual minorities.<\/h5>\n